The present invention relates to tent suspension assemblies, and more specifically to tent pole holders of tent pole foot assemblies within tent suspension assemblies.
Tent suspension assemblies are well-known in the art. A tent generally includes a fabric shelter supported by a suspension assembly. Tents are popular portable shelters insofar as they often can be easily assembled and disassembled. Assembly of a tent typically involves the creation and proper balancing of tension during construction of the suspension structure. Disassembly involves the release of such tension. Tents are often more easily disassembled than assembled. The extent to which a tent is easily assembled is an important consideration to a consumer when deciding between tent models.
Several tent suspension assemblies are known in the art. Some of the more common types include the use of ropes, poles, stakes, and frames. External suspension assemblies use items surrounding a tent to create the tension necessary to suspend the fabric in order to define an interior space. Such an assembly may rely on driving a stake into the ground, hooking a latch to a frame, or tying a rope to a tree. External suspension assemblies may use, for example, poles held in place with grommets in conjunction with stakes driven into the ground. Grommets are typically affixed into webbing that is sewn to the tent. The tip of a tent pole is inserted into the grommet. With the tip of the tent pole in the grommet, force is exerted to tear out of the webbing, rendering it useless.
Other assemblies use poles and the fabric of the tent itself to create internal tension. Such an assembly uses the fabric to suspend poles of a skeletal-type frame to which the assembly is that it may be a self-contained suspension assembly independent of the surroundings, possibly allowing the tent to be lifted and moved without disassembly.
Self-contained suspension assemblies may have several including greater stability, flexibility of use, and ease of construction. Greater stability may arise if the tent is not reliant on the tension created by an external source, such as a stake that may become uprooted by movement inside the tent. flexibility of use in that they may be used in places where the location does not permit tethering, such as atop a rock mass. Moreover, a self-contained suspension assembly may be easier to construct inasmuch as no hammering or tying may be necessary.
However, even self-contained suspension assemblies have certain disadvantages regarding construction. A typical version of a self-contained suspension assembly includes several tent poles and pockets sewn into the fabric of corners of the tent, into which the tent poles are inserted. With one end of a pole inserted in a pocket at one corner of the tent, the pole may be inserted through loops or sleeves on the perimeter of the tent fabric. Once the pole is attached to the tent perimeter, the other end of the pole is inserted into a pocket sewn into a far corner of the tent. Because the pole is used to create the tension needed to suspend the fabric, the pole may need to be bent before being inserted into the far corner pocket.
Another version of a self-contained suspension assembly is known as a ring and pin system. A ring and pin system uses pins that are inserted in tent poles. The pins are slidably attached to rings that are attached to the tent. The pins have diameters smaller than the inner diameter of the tubular end of the tent pole. The tent poles are held in place on the pins only by the force of the poles against the pins. In the absence of tension, the pins are free to move around, the rings move around, and the pins freely move in and out of the tent poles.
Generally, the tension of a pole used to suspend a tent assembly is a useful force so long as it is controlled to serve its purpose. However, this tension may become troublesome. For example, tension created as a pole is being bent may cause the end of the pole wedged into the first corner pocket to wiggle out of the pocket into which it is inserted. Consequently, the pole may spring out of the pocket as the straightening of the pole releases the tension. Similarly, if using a pole-in-grommet assembly, a first pole tip inserted into a first grommet may become dislodged when attempting to insert the opposite pole tip into its opposing grommet, requiring the first tip to be reinserted into the first grommet. These events may cause much frustration to a person attempting to assemble a tent with many such poles.
Furthermore, even once the pole is suspended between two opposing corner pockets or grommets, the tension from the pole may cause, over time, the pocket or grommet to rip away from fabric to which the pocket or grommet is sewn. Due to the fact that a tent pole often ends in a narrow tip, the majority of the pole tension may be focused on a small surface area of the tip, resulting in a high concentration of pressure at the point at which the pole tip meets the pocket or grommet, respectively. This concentration of force may be sufficient to break down a seam that holds a pocket or a grommet to the tent, either by ripping the fabric or by loosening the stitching. If a pocket or grommet becomes detached, nothing is holding down the pole, and the tension is released. A tent may become unusable if a critical pole may no longer be held in place because a pocket or grommet is missing.
It therefore would be advantageous to design an assembly by which a tent pole may be held in place that would have the benefits of easy and reliable assembly, but avoid several of the shortcomings associated with the use of pockets or grommets in securing the poles.
The present invention relates to tent suspension assemblies, and more specifically to tent pole holders of tent pole foot assemblies within tent suspension assemblies. A tent pole holder according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a flat, paddle-shaped handle at a first end, a mid-section, and a partially-cylindrical extension at a second end.
The flat, paddle-shaped handle at the first end may have one or more slots through which straps may attach the tent pole holder to the tent fabric. The mid-section connects and supports the handle and the extension, and it may serve as a place at which to grip the tent pole holder while engaging and disengaging a tent pole. The partially-cylindrical extension at the second end may be inserted into a tubular end of the tent pole that the tent pole holder is intended to engage. The partially-cylindrical extension may include an o-ring that is slightly recessed along the partially-cylindrical extension so as to provide a tighter seal with the tubular end of the tent pole.
The tent pole holder may be attached to the tent fabric anywhere that tension between the tent fabric and the tent pole is desired. An engagement mechanism, such as the o-ring, may be used between the tent pole holder and the tent pole to prevent the tent pole from slipping off the tent pole holder.